Patriots vs Bills: The Aftermath

Nightmare.

NEPD Staff Writer: Doug Kyed

That one wasn’t fun. You’ve got to give the Bills credit though, they’ve had two incredible second half comebacks in a row now. Coming back from 21 down and winning 34-31 is impressive no matter how much help you had from the other team.

To clear up any confusion, it made sense for Belichick to take that timeout after the near Fred Jackson TD. The clock started running as soon as the play wasn’t ruled a TD. Belichick just wanted the 13 seconds that had run down after the play back onto the clock.

Here are my thoughts on the game:

-This game was lost on bad penalties and bad decisions. The Mankins hold, the Kyle Love personal foul, the Sergio Brown pass interference and the unsportsmanlike conduct at the goal line at the end of the game all played huge parts in this loss. Obviously Ochocinco’s drop didn’t help either. Had that been the TD, the Patriots would have been left with 6:00 on the clock.

-Patrick Chung, Albert Haynesworth and Ras-I Dowling were missed greatly. Chung and Haynesworth could have helped contain Fred Jackson a lot better and Ras-I being on the field could have removed an extra DB needed to help Arrington in coverage. Tackling was a real issue for the Patriots as well. Chung is the best open field tackler in the secondary and that was sorely missed on Jackson’s big plays.

-Before the Love questionable call at the end of the fourth quarter, the Patriots were finally finding a semblance of a pass rush. I have absolutely no idea what officials saw on that call, I’ll clearly need to watch that replay at some point. Did they say Love hit Fitzpatrick up high? That being said, the Pats are going to need to bring the pass rush if they want their defense to improve. Fitzpatrick had all the time in the world to find his 2nd, 3rd and 4th options.

-Wes Welker and Rob Gronkowski were incredible.

-I’d say two of Tom Brady’s interceptions were on him, two were on his teammates. I can’t blame Brady though, the defense needs to learn how to not give up 34 points in a game.

-BenJarvus Green-Ellis had a rough game. I wish we could have seen more of Stevan Ridley in the 2nd half. A lot of problems could have been solved if we could have burned a lot of clock in the 2nd half, which we just couldn’t do. Brady’s INTs didn’t help, but neither did the Lawfirm or our run blocking. A lot of credit goes to Bills NT Kyle Williams, he had quite a game.

-Devin McCourty has been burned a lot this season, and it’s time to stop making excuses for him. He needs to do a better job getting in WRs faces at the line of scrimmage. I thought he would have a nice game against Stevie Johnson since he’s less physically than Brandon Marshall and Vincent Jackson.

-It’s really obvious that we missed Aaron Hernandez. We barely ran the no-huddle, which I knew would happen without Hernandez. Ocho doesn’t know the offense well enough and Edelman isn’t effective enough as an offensive player. Without the no huddle, we can’t put consistent pressure on the opposing defense. We should have BURNED the Bills DBs, but the only players capable were Welker and Gronkowski.

I’ll have more thoughts on the game in tomorrow’s keys column, but for now, let’s not panic. Teams lose, QBs have bad games. Injuries were key here as were dumb penalties and dumb mistakes. The Bills are clearly better than anyone thought they would be and Fred Jackson and Ryan Fitzpatrick are exactly why.

44 Responses to “Patriots vs Bills: The Aftermath”

If our 4-3 defense doesn’t improve rushing the quarterback by the 8th week, do we go back to the 3-4 defensive scheme? If we keep on giving up 30+ points a game, I don’t think that going back to a 3-4 scheme would be a bad idea.

to add to what qwerty said, we signed carter, anderson and haynesworth with the idea of a 4-3. none of those guys are effective in a 3-4. it would help out ellis, but that’s about it as far as the guys we brought in this year.

Every day we hear on and on about “the pressure ! The pressure ! The pressure ! We need a pass rusher ! We need a pass rusher !” Wo. Enough. What’s all this about. I can’t believe it. There’s allot of goobers who being tools. Patriots have a very good linebacker set. As they do with the DEs. They sure aren’t perfect. But hey, there aren’t thirty Jared Allens in this league. The Patriots have the guys, the rotation, the talent ! COORDINATE your BLITZES ! BB is doing a terrible job at coordinating blitz schemes, variating them. Ninkovich/Cunningham, Wright/Cohen (or Warren would be better) should rotate each others on rushing the quarterback. Force the quarterback to make mistakes, get him down even though you can’t touch him anymore. Don’t tell me the Jets have a better pass rush. Calvin Pace ? Bryan Thomas ? Oh my god 31 years old first round busts ! Hilarious ! Mike Devito ? Ropati Pitoitua ? Come on be serious.

Why we lost ? To tell you the truth, there’s no way we should of lost that game. 21-0 lead blow off are you kidding me ? I don’t care about the hype over “the Bills’ comeback team”. Losing all that edge is ridiculous. This is all BB’s fault. You’re 21 points ahead, why the hell are you throwing the ball ?! Run the ball ! Why did they throw the ball ? You run the ball, throw screens, rotate your running backs, and that’s it. Throwing the ball with five wide outs is a child’s mistake. And you know what ? That D was doing well before Tom started to throw interceptions. Sure, they should of stopped the Bills offense in those times. But hey, if BB had followed my gameplan, NFL Network would probably harass our players on an eventual undefeated season. BB has to coordinate way better his blitzes.
At least the Jets lost.

But they could of simply played basic football: screens, check down passes. Pretty much what they Patriots’ defense had to go through those first three games. Why play complicated when you can play simple. That’s what I don’t understand.

Guys, remember that the D has so many new players. We have three second-year/new linebackers, our CBs are all either young, back from injury, or new. Our safeties are all rookies and STers except for Chung who is a third-year player who is often injured. Our D-Line is totally different than last year (haynesworth, Carter, Ellis, Anderson) We’ve shifted to a totally different scheme. It’s Wk 3 of the regular season. I could care less.

OchoCinco’s drop really bugs me. And why do we just have ONE TIGHT END HEALTHY RIGHT NOW?

It’s upsetting but if they beat the Jets in Wk 5, I’ll keep calm and carry on. If they lose to the Jets or Raiders, I’ll be very concerned.

We give up allot of yards because it’s been a while the majority of the teams in the NFL go pass instead of run. In fact, Teams are run by the medias, and have the brilliant idea to draft first round pick running backs just because they’re good on check down passes and screens. They don’t ave a running back unit anymore. Teams don’t want to run, and certainly not against NE’s D. And by the way, didn’t the Chargers who were the best defense last year nearly gave up 500 yards versus the Patriots last sunday ? Does giving up 500 yards make you a bad defense.

It’s years of subpar drafting which required to Pat’s to sign Haynesworth($5 million), Ocho(nearly $6 million this year) and Ellis(about $4 million this year). All three players receiving more compensation this year then Wes Welker.

Kraft’s biggest financial nightmare isn’t the signing of unproductive, overpaid FA. Kraft’s biggest financial nightmare is Patriot’s Place if the Pat’s stop making the playoffs almost every year. And I doubt the Pat’s will make the playoffs this year, or next year if they don’t acquire better player talent evaluators.

I really thought our defense was going to improve this year with all the moves we’ve made. It’s the worst that it has ever been. When is Haynesworth going to prove that he is worth all the hype that he’s been getting? He can’t even play every down because he’s either out of shape or injured. Are we going to have to win games 42-35 all the time? We definitely need to mix in a running game to take time off the clock when we have big leads.

I think this is an issue of complimentary football not being played. The defense certainly has issues, and while I don’t expect Brady to single-handidly win games, he can’t throw his defense to the wolves either. That said, it isn’t all on Brady. Ocho really let me down today. I’m not calling for his head, but he shares the blame on one of the picks and dropped a would-be TD. Too many picks, not enough pressure, dropped passes and stupid penalties (or bad reffing?). A lot was left out there on the field.

Some other stuff…

– McCourty is really letting me down. While I never imagined him turning into a Revis, I was hoping he’d win more of his one-on-ones. I hope he figures things out soon.

– Not having Hernandez is brutal. Along with Branch, Welker and Gronk, he makes the passing game go. Ocho and Edelman don’t seem up to the task to filling the void.

– I want to see more of our untapped weapons. I really think Ridley could contribute. He looked solid in preseason. Vereen and Price could also kick in – Price could easily leap frog Ocho if things continue as they are.

– Where’s the pressure? Seriously. I remember that Tampa game with guys flying around all over the place. Was that just a preseason fluke? It really needs to improve. Paging Andre Carter… Right now Mark Anderson leads the team with 2 garbage time sacks.

– As it stands now (and it could change) dumping Sanders was idiocy. Barrett, Brown and Ihedigbo currently aren’t the same quality of player he was. $2.8 million might actually have been a small price to pay for stability in the secondary. Which brings me to my next point…

– Not having Chung is killer. Not having Dowling hurts too as he seems like he’s a bit ahead of a rusty Bodden.

– Lastly, I don’t understand this. If BB planned on moving to more 4-3 and subpackages why not account for this in the draft. Why not go for a pure pass rusher early who maybe isn’t a prototypical 3-4 type guy?

It took injuries to 3 defensive starters and 2 offensive starters, a below average game from Brady, and some of the flukiest plays ever for a 2-0 division rival to beat the Pats. I’m not overly worried.

Oh and I’m going to be getting off of the Och bandwagon here shortly, you drop passes, that are clutch I’ll forgive you once or twice if your lucky. So if he can’t catch, then put Price in there and cut him. Sign TO at least he can catch.

Haynesworth, get this guy on a bike and make him ride. Make him ride all day. I dont care, he has got to get into shape. If this is his last stop, well then play like it. Kyle Love can out play him at this point.

We need a safety who can either cover or tackle…we wont be blessed to have both.

Spikes not sure he is pro material.

Got to get some of these young talents on the field, one way or another. Cunningham, Price, etc.

I think lots of people are over reacting on one poorly played game. We put up 31 that is pretty good and we did that with 4 int and with out one of the best weapons on the team in Hernandez. I agree the defense wasn’t that good and does need to improve but with a few key guys being hurt like Chung, Haynesworth, and Dowling maybe it would have turned out different if they were in there.

Its not fair to say they suck and have no players on defense because they do have guys who can make a difference and yes the secondary has not looked good. McCourty has been beaten a lot and Bodden looks a step slower then he was before the injury.

They will bounce back next week and my guess is Bill will have them fired up and running on all cylinders next week. 38-17 next week, mark it down.

Yes, agreed…a road loss, after a few “off” passes and tipped balls etc…

But, the defense just has so little to build on.

I guess that’s ok if the Pats keep planning on out shooting the other team…no huddle, pass-happy offense, and simple try to out score the other team. But, I just don’t think that will do the trick in the playoffs, if they even make the playoffs. Teams like Green Bay will kill this team.

So, I feel they should start using the run more…keep teams honest, and keep them working and guessing; then score, and score a few times on quick strikes if that happens. But, putting that defense on the field time after time is no a good plan in my opinion and it won’t work in the playoffs, so why build it now? Why not give them a break and establish more of a running game…let them build some confidence on defense.

AND FIGURE OUT SOME WAY TO GET SOME PRESSURE!!! THIS IS PATHETIC AFTER 3 YEARS OR WHATEVER IT’S BEEN.

True, the tipped pass from Woodhead near end of the half and the weird pick-6 was a 14 pt swing!

Ochocinco is trying my patience and probably BB’s also. Rich Gannon claims he did not run a route shallow enough and is the reason the DB was able to step in front and intercept a pass. That and the dropped sideline pass may put him on the bench for awhile unless Hernandez and Price remain out.

move shaun ellis to 3 technique, have and anderson play 9 technique instead of 7 although hes been pretty good everywhere, and split the rushing attempts between carter and cunningham and getting haynesworth back makes it alot better too. I also think they should play some more zone coverage because they have failed pretty miserably in man. im not saying this will make them the best in the league on 3rd down but i think it will make them better.

That was terrible, but I’m going to say something positive. I’m thinking a loss like that may at least wake up Brady, but I’m really hoping it spurs on some defensive changes.
At the very minimum this team needs to control the clock and keep that defense off the field…stop this shoot out mentality. BJGE is a nice back, but I’m thinking that Ridley needs to get more carries, along with Woodhead, and Vareen. And, I think Vareen is a talent that is needed now also.
Enough of the positive stuff: That defense is so bad…I don’t even know what they can build on…Mayo, Wilfork??? McCoutry is having a tough start to the season…I’ll admit it now…I was in denial. The rest of the team is made up of nothing but JAGS, and maybe that’s speaking too highly of them?

We’ll see…If Belichick can make the playoffs and win a game or two with this team I’ll believe he still has “it”, but right now it’s looking like his team is not so hot, and much of it has to do with his personnel..drafting, free agents, and system. They just don’t have the players anymore. Can’t stop anything…

Are you saying the Eagles are better than the Patriots ? Or the Saints with their “outstanding” defense ? Or the Packers with their “unbelievable” running game”? Or the Chargers and their “marvelous” win over the Chiefs ?”

Patriots 2011 are not Patriots 2007. Just because you aren’t doesn’t mean you lost it.

How can any team play D this year with the ludicrous roughing, breathing on the QB, interference, illegal contact that is being called.

The NFL is quickly going the way of the NBA and Arena League. This is the real reason rookie QB’s are playing; the deck is stacked in their favor as long as they can get some sort of blocking. The D can’t touch receivers, can’t lower the boom when they cross the middle and can’t even breath on the QB after he throws it.

It’s all true…the league wants offense, but more so, they know the foundation of the entire league is on these good QBs…they get hurt and nobody wants to watch. The best example is going on right now in the Indy vs. Pitt game…if Manning was playing the ratings would be huge, but he’s not and I would gather the ratings will be very low.

I don’t think the problem on defense is just our team. I think its most teams in the league right now are struggling on defense. Seems like every game was nearly 30 pts by one team or the other , or even both.

the pass d is awful mccourty and leigh bodden have been horrendous they got nothing from carter the last 2 weeks and i have no idea why shaun ellis is playing 7 technique he is clearly slow and should be rushing from the 3. They should put cunningham in over carter or at least wilfork on passing downs

FYI, the Defense gave up 27 points. Tom Brady gave 7 to the Bills and he also gave the Bills a short field on one of the TD drives….that’s at least 10 point he gave away and he probably owns 12 of those 14 that Buffalo scored from those turnovers.

If Brady throws only 2 picks the Bills likely score only 20 points…not bad for a severely banged up D.

The big play hurt the Defense, but when Tom Brady throws 4 picks and on 3 of those INT-drives the Offense only possesses the ball for 2:35…..that’s not good game management and leaves your Defense out to dry.